简单慢速英语阅读：Front Desk Manners

　　It was a big apartment building. The building was in a big city. Delivery¹ people left packages at the front desk. The front desk held the packages for apartment tenants². Mr. Smith was expecting a package. He stopped at the front desk. Had his package arrived yet? Nora said, "Yes, sir." But only Simon could hand out the packages. "Where's Simon?" Mr. Smith asked. Simon was on break. "He'll be back in 5 minutes, Mr. Smith," said Nora. Twenty minutes later, Simon arrived. Mr. Smith told Simon that he had a package. "Apartment number," said Simon. "A," said Mr. Smith. Simon went into the package room. He came back about five minutes later. "Sign here," he said. Mr. Smith asked, "Where?" Simon pointed³ at a blank⁴ space in the notebook. Mr. Smith signed in the blank space. Simon gave him the package. Mr. Smith said, "Thank you." Simon said nothing.

1 delivery   

n.交付；投递；分娩；解救者；演讲的风格

参考例句：

• The strike caused a great delay in the delivery of the mail.这次罢工严重地延误了邮件的投递。
• He was employed at the local grocery store as a delivery boy.他受雇于当地杂货店当送货员。

2 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 blank   

adj.空白的；n.空白(处)；vi.消失；vt.使模糊不清

参考例句：

• Suddenly my mind went blank.我脑子里突然一片空白。
• Design a new blank form.设计一个新的空白表单。